Court dismisses case petition filed against Yunus, 26 others

A Dhaka court on Thursday dismissed a case petition filed against former chief adviser of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus, NCP Convener and current opposition party Chief Whip in the national parliament Nahid Islam, and 25 others over the vandalism at Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic residence at Dhanmondi-32 in the capital.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana dismissed the case petition under Section 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said State Prosecutor of the Dhaka Metropolitan Chief Magistrate Court Shamsuddoha Sumon.

Earlier in the day, a woman named Tamanna Chowdhury Priyanka filed the lawsuit petition before the court. The court then recorded the complainant’s statement and kept the order pending.

The others who were made accused in the case petition are former advisers Dr Asif Nazrul, Dr Rezwana Hasan, Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Mustafa Sarwar Farooki, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, Mahfuz Alam and former press secretary Shafiqul Alam.

Leader of the National Citizen Party and current lawmaker Akhtar Hossain, Md Hasanat Abdullah, Abdul Hannan Masud and Nusrat Tabassum were also made accused, along with other leaders of the party, including Sarjis Alam, Samanta Sharmin, Nasiruddin Patwari, Ariful Islam Adib and Saleh Uddin Sifat.

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The other accused are former NCP leader Dr Tasnim Zara, YouTubers Pinaki Bhattacharya, Elias Hossain and Konok Sarwar, Colonel (retd) Nur Nabi, Tahrima Jannat Suravi, Md Milon, Fahim Al Chowdhury, and Abul Kalam Azad.

According to the case petition, on 5 February 2025, at the direct instigation, incitement and overall assistance of the accused, other accused and 3,000 to 5,000 unnamed people formed an unlawful assembly, armed with weapons, and launched a group attack on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic residence at Dhanmondi-32.

The petition claimed that the accused vandalised the building and set fire to it after entering it at around 10pm that night, causing extensive damage to and looting valuable belongings, including historical artefacts, documents, records of the Liberation War, documentaries, books and publications.

The case also alleged that they brought two bulldozers, an excavator, a hammer and heavy machinery and began demolishing the house throughout the night, continuing the demolition until around 5pm the following day and reducing it to rubble.

Several accused allegedly went live on YouTube and Facebook, inciting and supporting the vandalism, arson and looting of important documents and papers kept at the house, while some of them allegedly provided financial assistance.

Despite prior announcements by the accused, those responsible for protecting the house on behalf of the government did not take any initiative to prevent the attack, the case petition alleged.